I got an old wood caboose kit, mostly assembled, in a box of miscellaneous stuff I got for cheap at the end of a train show. It has dummy couplers currently, and I'd like to replace them with Kadee whisker couplers. This part of the procedure seems relatively simple. The issue I am encountering is that the trucks are attached with a nut glued into the truck, and a bolt or threaded rod running out of the bottom of the caboose. The issue is that this would require rotating the truck to remove, but there is not a full range of rotation of the truck due to the truss rods underneath the body of the car. Anyone have any thoughts on dealing with this? My only thought is hoping some form of glue activator will eat the bond between the nut and the truck and allow independent removal, but I am not familiar with what glues would've been used traditionally so I wouldn't know what types of debonder to try.
I believe it is a central valley Old Timers side-door caboose kit, based on the cast metal cupola and overall shape of the car.
Central Valley made a snap on truck mount using dress snaps. The trucks may come off with a gentle pull.
Mark